I had an early start to my day, rising early for a 6:45 breakfast with National Geographic and Kwame Alexander to celebrate their forthcoming collaboration, Animal Ark.
The book is a collection of Joel Sartore’s photos and haiku by Kwame Alexander, Mary Rand Hess and Deanna Nikaido. With his passionate words, Kwame inspired us to do what we can to protect the earth.
In spite of the coffee, I was still tired. I felt incredibly jet lagged. And yet, I decided to venture into the exhibit hall. I love this part of a conference. I talked to book people and picked up more arcs than I’d planned, but got a few a I really wanted. I also sat in on a panel of authors who contributed to Flying Lessons,
a middle grade anthology of short stories that was just published by We Need Diverse Books, a grassroots organization of children’s book lovers that advocates essential changes in the publishing industry to produce and promote literature that reflects and honors the lives of all young people.
Lunch was a Simon & Schuster reception showcasing new books, and highlighting Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan, who was the guest speaker.
Following that, I returned to the hotel, organized my books and headed off to the Post Office. Tomorrow is a very full day and I probably won’t have time to get ship the books I picked up today. I ran into some fellow Beaverton colleagues on my way out of the exhibits before returning to my hotel for a quiet evening in to rest up for tomorrow.
booksandbassets 